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A beat ’em up with poutine: Ars reviews Scott Pilgrim

It may have been released to coincide with the upcoming film, but Scott …

If you ever tried to imagine what a Scott Pilgrim game might look like, chances are it looked a lot like the recently released PlayStation Network (and eventually Xbox Live Arcade) game from Ubisoft. Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game is, like the series of books it's based on, a love letter to video games. But it still manages to stand on its own as a solid side-scrolling beat 'em up, one that just so happens to feature some incredible pixel art and an amazing chiptune soundtrack.

Smartly, the game puts little focus on its story. You're treated to an opening cinematic that briefly explains the events of the game—that Scott needs to defeat Ramona's seven evil exes in order to date her—and there are brief story sequences in between each level. This set-up gives the game a much broader appeal. If you're already a fan of the books then you already know what happens; if you have no interest in the story, the game doesn't force it down your throat.

Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game

Developer

Ubisoft Montreal

Publisher

Ubisoft

Price

$9.99

Platform

PS3

In terms of how it plays, Scott Pilgrim is a definite throwback: it feels like River City Ransom,Turtles in Time, and Streets of Rage. But more importantly, it feels like Scott Pilgrim. You'll travel through streets, clubs, and movie sets beating up crowds of goons as you go. Weapons are plentiful, and at times it feels like you can pick up pretty much anything around you and wield it menacingly. Whether it's a traditional weapon like a baseball bat or a garbage can, or something a little more unique like a snowball or a Dixie cup, you can use put it to good use. There are some light RPG elements to the game as well, and you'll unlock new abilities and attacks as you progress. And since each playable character levels up independently, this encourages multiple play-throughs using each of them.

Like its source material, the Scott Pilgrim game isn't shy about its influences. Instead, it shows them off proudly. The in-game map looks like it was ripped out of Super Mario World, only instead of the Mushroom Kingdom it displays the frigid wasteland of Toronto. You'll beat up cars like in Street Fighter and collect coins like in, well, every other 2D game there is. Not every bit of homage is obvious and you'll continuously spot new ones as you move through the game.

Much has been made about some of the names attached to this game—namely pixel artist Paul Robertson and chiptune band Anamanaguchi—and with good reason. The game both looks and sounds incredible. Though decidedly old-school, the visuals are about as good as pixel art gets. Which is to say they're amazing. The main cast of characters look like digitized incarnations of their comic book counterparts, and the backgrounds are full of details to distract you. The enemy sprites do repeat a little too often, however, which can result in a few strange situations—why a tubby TTC driver is hanging around a swanky club I'll never understand. The soundtrack is, to put it simply, brilliant. Every single song is catchy and sets the mood perfectly, so much so that chiptune fans will probably want a copy of the soundtrack for when they're away from the game.

But what makes Scott Pilgrim so great is the details. And it's more than just the not-so-subtle references to other games. Enemies drop Canadian coins. Ramona beats up thugs with her trademark bag and infamous +10 Against Boys hammer. You can buy poutine to replenish your health. And there's even a hidden survival horror mode with zombies.

If you're a fan of the series, than the simplest way to describe the game is this: it just feels right. The gameplay, the music, the visuals, the Easter eggs... they all feel very Scott Pilgrim. But even if you aren't steeped in Bryan Lee O'Malley's world, there's still a lot to enjoy, as Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game features a solid old-school game underneath all of its fan service. The uninitiated may miss out on a lot of the charm, but the game might just inspire some players to go and read the books in the future. You know, like, with jet packs.